Frequently Asked Questions about Certified I.S Auditor

Answers to your Frequently Asked Questions Q: What are the dates and locations of the CISA certification exam ? The exam is offered only TWICE each year in over 70 cities worldwide, about half of those are in the United States. The exam date second Saturday in June and December. If you miss that date or arrive late you will have to wait 6 months until the next exam. Q: How do I register for the exam ? Register online at www.isaca.org at least 3 months BEFORE the exam date to reserve your place. Q: Who hires CISA auditor's ? Every one that uses or needs an I.S. auditor. Employers include the Big accounting firms, Consulting firms, and any business with internal audit needs. A properly qualified auditor is usually quite busy. Recently many self-appointed I.T. professionals entered the security business claiming to offer security audits without any auditor credentials. A true professional would hold the CISA designation as proof of their ability as a dependable independent auditor. Q: Why do all the new regulations require independent auditors ? People are tired of business fraud. Look at just a few of the huge scandals involving Italy's Parmalat, U.S. Enron, AOL, Worldcom and so many more. The world is tired of losing their money and pension funds in business schemes that involve questionable management or misleading information from management. Independent auditor's are the watchdogs of business. Their objective is to question, observe, assess, and verify a variety of requirements for legal purposes. Q: Who would an CISA auditor report to ? You will interact with the top executive management. This is an excellent opportunity to win friends and gain opportunities from the top. If you hold multiple skills the CISA will insure you can keep their interest and gain significant respect. Normally the auditor works for internal audit, audit committee or performs pre-audit work intended to improve their clients audit score. Q: What makes the CISA exam so difficult ? The twice a year exam and diverse subject material. I.S. Audit and Control Association (ISACA) publishes a rather cumbersome study guide compiled by a committee of volunteers, however you will likely fail if that is your only study preparation. The CISA exam is about significantly more that terms and definitions. You have to know quite a bit of detail concerning scope, reporting relationships, duties and ethical boundries. In our opinion, the $135 ISACA study quide was written for a CPA to gain CISA certification and assumes you already understand the CPA background knowledge. Details a CPA would know about audit rules, responsibilities and duties. This is what led David to write the Sybex study guide designed for use by both beginners and professionals with more experience. Q: How many years experience is required for CISA certification ? You can substitute education for up to two years of the five year experience requirement. Upon sucessfully passing the exam you have five years to submit your exerience for certification. Your test results are valid for 5 years. Passing the exam proves you know something about I.S. auditing. Q: What about self-study ? The free study groups have a poor overall pass rate too. Most of the free instructors just teach for CISA renewal credits and lack the emphasis to make you successful. Our instructors are actual study guide authors. We teach you details and specific techniques that will repidly advance your audit career. You only get one chance to impress your client. Set your sights to our standards and you will have no trouble passing the exam. Better yet, you will earn more money than everyone else. We'll show you exactly how to do it during class. Q: How much money does a CISA earn ? Depends on who you work for. We normally hear of personal pay between $43 and $114 per hour. Usually it is quite a bit of money, travel, and high dollar perks. Surely you have seen the high dollar suits and how these people are treated when they arrive at your company. Not cheap. Overall the auditor's life is very comfortable.

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